Criticism of the Sunnis' argument based on the verse of the cave to prove the superiority of the caliphate for Abu Bakr

The legitimacy of governments in the Islamic world has always been one of the important theoretical issues among scholars, each of which has discussed and examined the legitimacy of the Imams and Caliphs from its own perspective. From the Shiite perspective, the Holy Prophet and the infallible Imams have had the legitimacy of the Imamate and Caliphate of Muslims because, in their view, this legitimacy is an important political component in the Shiite perspective and they consider the Caliphate to be a divine order that was installed by God and through the Prophet and the successor and immediate successor of the Commander of the Faithful, and the Imamate and Caliphate of the Imams are the same until the Imam of the Time. However, Sunnis believe that the Prophet of Islam did not appoint a successor after him. Therefore, by emphasizing some verses and by making Abu Bakr and other caliphs virtuous, they prove the issue of the justice of the Companions and make the caliphate of Abu Bakr and the rest appear legitimate. One of those verses is verse 40 of Surah At-Tawbah, known as the verse of the Cave. This verse has a special place in the eyes of Sunnis and is considered to be an expression of the virtues of Abu Bakr; some Sunni elders have considered it to be the greatest virtue of Abu Bakr, proof of his entitlement to the caliphate, and even more valuable than the Commander of the Faithful sleeping in the Prophet's bed. In this article, we will specifically address the claim of the virtue of Abu Bakr's companionship with the Holy Prophet and the legitimacy of the caliphate by Sunnis.